Control for pipes of tanks



Dec. 1, 1925. 1,564,179

H. L. RIDENOUR CONTROL FOR PIPES OF TANKS Filed June 15, 1925 F 1g. l.

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Patented Dec. ,1, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT I4. BTDENOU'R, OF HIGKSVILLE, OHIO.

CONTROL non rrrns or TANKS.

Application filed June 15 1925. Serial No. 37,271.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT L. RrnnNoUn,

a citizen of the United States of America,

and resident of Hicksville, in the county of Defiance and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controls for Pipes of Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to controls for the valves of tanks used in storing oil and the like, and the said invention is intended as an improvement on the control forming the subject-matter of this applicants Patent #1,522,327 issued January 6th, 1925.

It is an object of this invention to produce in addition to the features of the invention of the patent an auxiliary control, operative to prevent back flow of fluid into the tank to a degree which would cause the fluid to overflow the tank.

It is a further object of this invention to produce a device effective to trip the valve operating mechanism in order that the valve may be rotated under the influence of a motor in accordance with the teachings of -the aforesaid patent.

l/Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed. v

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in Y which- Figure 1 illustrates a sectional view of a tank showing a device embodying the invention applied thereto; I

Figure 2' illustrates a view in elevation with the device shown at right angles to the position inwhich it is shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 illustrates a sectional view of the valve and parts associated with it; and

- Figure 4 illustrates a detail View of a.

v disk. I

- r In. these drawings, the 'valve moving device including the motor and the primary motor' control are the same as those illustrated in the patent, :and for the pur-.

pose'of making clear'the application of patent, this specification will include referenee to suchfpar'ts' of the earlier device as may seemnecessary for an understanding by one skilled in the art.

An illustrated in the drawing, 10 denotes a storage tank which may be of any capacity desired and within the said tank a guide 11 is suspended from a lever 12.

Preferably the lower end of the guide is secured by a bracket 13 extending from the wall of the tank above the outlet pipe 14. The bracket prevents oscillation of the float guide and insures proper movement of the float 15 vertically of the tank. The guide has a stationary shoulder or stop 15 on which the float settles in its descent and further gravitation of the float will result in moving the guide rod vertically.

The lever 12 is oscillatable on a bracket 16 that may be secured on the upper edge of the tank by a fastening 17 such as a set screw or the like, and the said lever has a coupling 18 attached to its outer end. A rod 19 extends downwardly from the coupling and it is engaged by a turnbuckle 20 that is adjustable on the said rod, the said turnbuckle in turn being adjustably connected to the rod 21 that has its lower end supporting a latch or detent 22 pivotally mounted on a supporting frame member 23, by means of a pivot 24. A hanger or guard 25 is supported from a portion of the frame and it engages the detent 22 and limits the downward movement of the detent.

Another supporting frame member 27 has a latch or detent 28 oscillatably connected to it by the'pivot 29, and this last mentioned detent alternates with the latch or detent 22 in arresting the valve operating mechanism, as; will presently appear. The latch 28 is manually operated to release the valve through the operation of a key-shaft 31, as in the said patent. When a gager desires to operate the motor to open the valve, the key-shaft 81 may be rotated to operate the latch. I

The supporting frame 23 is shown in end elevation (Fig. 2), and it will be seen that it comprises a body portion 34 having an aperture 35, through which the pipe 1 1 extends. Each supporting frame is therefore' mounted on the discharge pipe and each maybe secured to the discharge pipe by a fastening 36v such as a set screw. The supporting frame includes the upstanding portions 37, and each upstanding' portion has a slot 38 to receive studs such as 39 that project from the sides of the motor frame 40. The motor frame constitutes a support for the motor and its operating parts, and preferably a spring motor may be employed, although the inventor does not wish to be limited in this regard, and it is believed unnecessary to show or describe the motor parts.

The valve of the present embodiment of the invention is of the. plug valve type, in which the casing 44 is interposed between sections of the discharge pipe 14 with ports communicating with the pipe sections. A plug 45 is rotatable in the valve plug and it has a port 46 extending therethrough in order that the valve plug may be turned to cause the port 46 to register with the discharge pipe, or sealed by the wall of the casing, as will be understoodby those skilled in the art.

The valve plug extends beyond the casing and a disk 47 is secured on it, the said disk having a peripheral gear 48 meshing with the gear wheels driven by the clock mechanism, and it is the purpose of the inventor that these gear wheels shall communicate motion to the disk and turn the valve plug.

In order that the valve plug may be held in the valve casing with suflicient pressure to prevent the development of a leak betweenthe valve plug and its casing, a shank of the valve plug has the cap-nut 49 threaded on it, the said cap-nut being effective to draw the valve plug into close engagement with the wall of its casing.

The face of the disk 47 is provided with two sets of detent or latch engaging lugs or shoulders, one setbeing at a different radius than the other set. The lugs or shoulders 56 that are intended'to be engaged by the latch or detent 28 project from the face of the disk and as the disk turns, the said shoulders will be engaged by'the end of the latch or detent 2'8 whenin its normal position. When the dog is lifted by the manipulation of an operator, the end of the latch 28 is lifted clear of'the lug 5'6'and the disk is freed to be driven by the motor, and the relation of parts is such that the valve plug is rotated aquarter of. a revolution to cause its port to register with the axis of the discharge pipe.

The lugs or projections 57 which extend from the face of the disk are located between the lugs 56', but are further from the center than the lugs 56. They aregsopositioned that they will pass the end of the latch or detent 2 8, butwill' be engaged by the end of the latch or detent 22, whereas the lugs 56 will pass the end of the latch or detent 22, but will be engaged and arrested by the latch or detent 28.

Inthe' event that'the back pressure of fluid in the pipe exceeds the pressure of the oil in the tank and there is a flow of fluid through the pipe 14 into the tank after the valve has been opened, as described heretofore, and should the fluid rise in the tank to a height where there would be danger of overflowing or the device is not properly operating, means are provided for automatically disengaging the latch or detent from a lug 57 in order that the motor may turn the valve to a closed position and interrupt the back flow. T 0 that end, a supplemental latch or detent operating device is provided to be actuated by the float when it rises beyond a predetermined height in the tank. In carrying this feature of the invention into practice, thebracket 16 has a lever 12 oscillatable on it and the said lever 12 has a coupling 18 with a threaded rod 19 connected to a turnbuckle 20, and the turnbuckleis threaded on a rod 21 which has its lower end connected to a lever B. The lever is mounted on any suitable support C by a pivot D in such a way that one end of the lever remote from-the rod 21 is in engagement with the latch 22. The lever B is therefore operative when one end is pushed down by the rod 21 to lift the latch 22 clear of a lug 57 to permit the motor to operate the valve.

As a means for projecting the rod 21 downwardly, the lever is elevated through the action of the float when it rises if the fluid in the tank is excessively high. In order that the motion of the float 15 may be communicated to the-lever 12 the said lever has a depending arm 11 terminating in a collar 11 which is guided on the rod 11, and hence if the float rises to a degree where it will push the collar upwardly, it will move the inner end of the lever 12 up- Wardly'and depress the rod 21 so that the lever;B' will elevate the detent 22.

The supplemental' means for releasing the'valve operating means upon-the presence of excessive fluid in the tank will, it is thought, be understood from the foregoing description,

From an inspection of the drawing and from the foregoing description, it will be apparent that if a gager operates the latch 28 to free; the lug 56 and the weight of the float 15 is-relieved from the'guide rod, as it will be when the tank has oil in it to be discharged, the motor will turn the valve plug to the open osition of thevalve and one of the lugs 5? will be arrested by reason of its engaging thelatch 22. The gager having opened the valve, the oil will flow from the tank and this will continue until the float has descended on the guide and reached the shoulder thereon that arrests the float. As the oil recedes to a limited degree, the weight of the float will operate the lever- 12 andthe lever in turnwill raise the latch or detent 28 from engagement with one of the lugs 57 and free the disk in order that it may be turned under the influence of the motor. The motion imparted to the disk will turn the valve plug to a closed position of the valve, and the next succeeding lug 56 will be engaged by the latch or detent 2S, and the flow of oil from the tank will be interrupted. The parts will retain the positions just described until the gager again releases the latch or detent 28, except, of course, the float will rise as oil is delivered to the tank.

lVhile a form of the invention has been described as associated with the discharge pipe of an oil tank, it is to be understood that the valve operating mechanism may be associated with pipes for different uses and that it may be associated with tanks employed for different purposes, so that the inventor does not wish to be limited with respect to the application of the invention in practice.

I claim:

1. In a control for pipes of tanks, a supporting frame adapted for attachment to a discharge pipe of an oil tank associated with a valve for such pipe, a motor supported by the frame, means for communicating the motion of the motor to the valve for opening and closing the valve, a mechanically operated and a manually operated valve arresting means operative alternately, a float in the tank the gravity of which communicates motion to the mechanically operated valve arresting means for releasing the valve when oil has reached a prev determined level in the tank, and auxiliary float operated means pushed by the float when it has reached a predetermined height in the tank for communicating motion to the mechanically operated valve arresting means for releasing the valve when oil has reached an abnormal height in the tank.

2. In a control for pipes of tanks, a supporting frame adapted for attachment to a discharge pipe of an oil tank associated with a valve for such pipe, mechanism for moving the valve to an open and a closed position, a suitably operated valve arresting means, a float in the tank the gravity of which communicates motion to the valve arresting means, and an auxiliary device operated by the buoyancy of the float for communicating motion to the valve operating arresting means.

3. In a control for pipes of tanks, a tank, a pipe communicating therewith, a valve for controlling the flow of material through the pipe, means for operating the valve, means for intermittently arresting the valve operating means, a lever oscillatably mounted on the tank and having a guide depending into the tank, a float onsaid guide, means for communicating motion of the float to the lever when the float has reached a certain movement in its descent, an auxiliary lever pivotally mounted on the tank, means for communicating motion of the float to the said lever when it has ascended a predetermined distance in the tank, and means for communicating motion of the second mentioned lever to the means for controlling the valve operating means.

HERBERT L. RIDENQUR. 

